My small granny and other stories

Between two stools, a tale of the Diaspora

10/26/2012

There was holy war in the Day Centre. The London Borough I worked in had decided to survey every Centre to discover the ethnic origin of those in receipt of services. The social workers were charged with helping our elderly clients to fill out a lengthy form. One of the questions read "How do you identify yourself? Irish, Second Generation Irish, Third Generation Irish, Afro-Carribean, (that's what it said!) White, Black, English, Other." The Borough was concerned that people might mis-identify themselves. They were right. We had Irish born people identifying themselves as English, Black people identifying them selves as White and vice versa. What people didn't know was that we, the social workers, were supposed to fill out a separate form and 'correct' any inaccuracies we found. We were a Union House so the Union got involved on the civil liberties issue and the terms of our employment which did not include becoming census enumerators.
The form caused untold distress to our clients. Two thirds of them were Irish born but had lived in London all their adult lives. They were regarded and treated as Irish throughout their working lives in London. But when they went home to Ireland they were regarded and treated as English. Many of their children were embarrassed about having Irish parents. Most of their children identified themselves as English and had assimilated completely. As one older lady said to me with great sadness 'All of us here fall between two stools, pet, we are neither Irish nor English now. Nobody wants us.'

This blog was inspired by Mairead Geary , The Irish American Mom. Read more Tales of the Diaspora

6 Comments

Mairead link

10/26/2012 06:39:46 am

Martine - I can hear the elderly Irish woman saying the words "All of us here fall between two stools, pet." I had a knot in my throat at the words "Nobody wants us." This really highlighted the differences between Irish immigrants' experience in England and America. On this side of the Atlantic, we are welcomed with open arms and made feel at home. The big question for all of us is accepting that invitation to become American without feeling overcome by guilt, thinking we are abandoning our homeland.
Thank you for a fantastic post. My mind is spinning with lots of ideas for future posts on the vast topics of immigration, diaspora, assimilation, and integration. I think we both will have plenty more posts to write on this topic.

Martine Brennan link

10/26/2012 01:22:12 pm

I am glad to have this opportunity to honour her experience Mairead. What made me even more sad as I listened to her was that she, and most of the others in the Centre had sent money home for years and years. They helped to put slate roofs on houses, put siblings through school and provided for aging parents. They often sent money home and were then unable to go home. I am sure this is true in America also. I know that their world was very different from ours. I really respect the sacrifices they made.
It is so important to acknowledge them all, those who felt they were abandoned and those who feared abandoning their own.

Marie-Thérèse O’Loughlin link

11/9/2012 02:38:38 pm

As I was reading about the lengthy forms the residents had to fill in pertaining to their ethnicity, I was reminded of an American house evaluation site I was browsing through recently. It stated, not only the value of the houses, and the grounds, but also laid out the ethnicity percentage of the residents in the area. I was gobsmacked. One would never see that kind of thing in Ireland. Understandably, we are a very small country. Dil from Newstalk says there are over 190 languages spoken in Ireland today. https://twitter.com/DilW
I could just visualise there being holy war when the social services 'had to survey every Centre to discover the ethnic origin of those in receipt of services.' And for residents to be confronted with "How do you identify yourself? Irish, Second Generation Irish, Third Generation Irish, Afro-Carribean, (that's what it said!) White, Black, English, Other." So utterly condescending for the elderly folk to have to go through such an ordeal. The audacity of them to use social workers to do a distressing job of a nature that didn't come under their employment remit. It makes me glad to think that I came back to Ireland at an earlier age, as I too, like 'the older lady,' could be falling 'between two stools.' This post brings me back to the day when my own mother and husband had to make the choice of retiring in Ireland, as they really did not want to be buried in Great Britain, despite having lived there for nigh on thirty years. Love the choice of video.

11/10/2012 02:21:24 am

I think it is so important to acknowledge the reality of their/our experience Marie-Therese. Pain truly acknowledged heals. And the thing that I find only miraculous is that sometimes it only takes ONE person. Acknowledging pain is NOT the same as wallowing in the past. I think sometimes people get confused between the two. But that's another blog!
I love this song. My mother's first cousin went to England as a young man. When I was small he used to come home every summer and he would sing it for us every night. He was such a lovely gentle man so I cherish my memories of him.

Felicity Hayes-McCoy link

11/15/2012 01:37:11 pm

'It is so important to acknowledge them all, those who felt they were abandoned and those who feared abandoning their own.' I think what you say is true and important. And I'm grateful that my own experience as a member of the diaspora has been different.

Maybe it's because I'm younger (I went to London in the 1970s). Maybe it's because of my background and education. Maybe it's because, as a creative artist, I live and work largely in an environment which challenges assumptions in general and those about identity in particular. Whatever the reason may be, I've been fortunate. I don't feel I've fallen between two stools; instead I've always felt that the experience of leaving Ireland has enriched me by allowing me to explore my own sense and definitions of what it means to be Irish.

On top of that, the internet and increasingly cheaper travel options have made it possible for me to come back more frequently and, latterly, to live both in Ireland and in London. I remember a time, though, when such a life seemed impossible - and that time wasn't so long ago.

Maybe it all comes down to the fact that, in many ways, my generation has had more choices. I'm grateful for mine. And I honour the people who took the emigrant road before me. We all should. In every family, to some degree, our lives have been built upon theirs.

11/19/2012 08:12:02 am

I too feel enriched by my time in London Felicity, although it wasn't always easy. I wonder has anyone done any studies on the effect of education on integration? That would be very interesting. Martine

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Between two stools, a tale of the Diaspora

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